While even the Austrian School of economics (lewrockwell.com, mises.org, fee.org) agrees that a primary driver of high prices is the Federal Reserve and loose monetary policies, I half wonder whether we ought to simply consider the basic supply and demand graph as indicative of how to solve the problem. We have closed off oil drilling and pipelines, paid people not to work, and a whole bunch more, all while providing generous subsidies to all those people who are not working.
Looks like we're suppressing supply and increasing demand, and then we're wondering why prices are rising. Maybe it's time to change our approach.
1 comment:
I work for a manufacturer, and trust me this has been building since the day they locked us down. Why in heaven's name building supplies weren't "essential" I don't know.
What I do know is prices change weekly (or more often!!) and lead times have doubled and tripled. And then we get lied to about those lead times, which results in unhappy customers.
It's a mess. The gas debacle has only begun to hit pricing, trucks and fertilizer etcetc likewise.
YES fix supply - but you need to fix raw materials supply, not the end product that everyone is complaining about. No joke, I've heard of cardboard plants that are so backed up they won't even quote customers.
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